WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by half a percentage point this afternoon, reducing the overnight loans among banks to 4 percent, and cutting its discount rate on loans to banks from the Federal Reserve system to 3.5 percent.
The most recent round of cuts is the fifth time in five months that the Fed has lowered interest rates. The last time the federal funds rate was as low as 4 percent was nearly seven years ago.
The Fed has reduced rates by a total of 2.5 percentage points since it began cuts in January.
